Yasmin Hernandez's Soldaderas Mural in East Harlem

Yasmin Hernandez in front of her mural "Soldaderas" which was inspired by Frida Kahlo’s painting “Las dos Fridas” and photographs of women who participated and fought in the battles of the Mexican Revolution called soldaderas.Image: Javier Soriano/Photo

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Puerto Rican muralist Yasmin Hernandez has a vision for East Harlem. That vision came into focus back in June, when she finished her mural “Soldaderas.” The mural — a new take on Frida Khalo’s “Las dos Fridas” – shows the legendary Mexican painter hand-in-hand with Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos. For Hernandez, the mural is a statement on the vitality of the changing neighborhood, one that’s often depicted as a place in which tensions between Puerto Rican and Mexican residents are described as tense and hostile.

Both women shared a profound love for their respective homelands of Puerto Rico and Mexico, an appreciation of revolutionary ideals, and a feminist outlook. They suffered similar struggles and worked to overturn injustice. At a time in which their male counter parts men did not delve into personal issues in their work, de Burgos and Kahlo unapologetically made the personal political. Both women were profoundly affected by the loss of their babies through miscarriage and shared their despair though graphic paintings and poems.